Home Safe and Sound

Well, after four days of waiting Joe finally made it home last night to BWI. He arrived around 8:45 p.m. and the boys and I were so excited. He had to fly to Ft. Benning this morning to turn in his equipment and go through a class so he should be home for good by Wednesday or Thursday. We did get to spend the night with him in Baltimore and it was a great reunion. Thank you all for your prayers and I will post some pics later as I am feeling a little tired and Nathan is out of sorts at the moment too. We thank the Lord for His wonderful love and mercy through this time we have been separated. God is so good to us!! We love you all!

Change of Plans AGAIN!

Well, Joe emailed this morning to say that they are sending in a new plane and isn't sure when they will be leaving so he doesn't know when he will be here. Please continue to keep him in your prayers and us too. It's so difficult to not know when your husband/daddy is coming home and not to get too excited knowing you may be disappointed. Anyways, thanks for your prayers and we love you all!

Update & Prayer Request

Well, to begin Joe was suppose to arrive in the states on Wednesday evening, unfortunately his plane was delayed and has now been delayed for the past three days due to mechanical difficulties. So the prayer request comes in several parts. First, please pray for the plane to be fixed properly so that all of those soldiers who have been waiting to get home after their service can finally get home to their families. Secondly, pray for Joe not to get too frustrated with the whole situation.
Thirdly, pray for Christian and Aaron who have been told for the last three days, "Daddy is coming home," only to have their hopes shattered after I have to tell them he isn't coming. Lastly, please pray for me to remember the Lord's timing and know it is perfect. Also not to do things in my strength but in His as it is hard for me at this moment to not become frustrated with circumstances. Thank you in advance for your prayers as they are so appreciated by us all.

One Month Old

I can't believe that Nathan is one month old already! Time is going rather quickly except for waiting for my husband to come home. Anyway,Nathan is a very good little boy and has been sleeping mostly through the night except for these last two nights but I just chalk it up to he's having a growth spurt. You can also see that he is trying to smile. You can tell he wants to but just isn't all the way there yet. Aaron and Christian are very protective of him and they love to hold him. They can't understand when he cries though what is wrong with him mostly because he is tired and ready to nap. They will get use to it eventually. Well, I am back off to bed, Nathan has nursed and now back to sleep. Enjoy the pictures!!

Ski Trip

Well, this week my sister, brother-in-law, and niece flew up from Florida to come to see Nathan and to go on a ski trip to Massanutten Ski Resort. We arrived Saturday afternoon to our condo rental for the week and got settled. Everyone went skiing on Sunday except me and Nathan, of course, and they all had a great time. The boys are doing extremely well for their first time. They have improved from red group to orange group and now they are both in yellow group. My brother in law is going to try to get some video of the boys so hopefully I can put that on here in a few days. Nathan and I have been doing well. We went out to the mountain today to watch Aaron and Christian ski. We also went to the arcade room last night and played games after dinner. It's been pretty relaxing with a few bumps in the road here like a flat tire on the truck but what vacation doesn't have that. Thank the Lord for AAA. You call and they come when needed. It's been great to see my family and we are having a good time together. It's making the time until Joe gets home pass a little bit faster too. We are truly looking forward to him being home in February and we are sorry he missed being here with us this week.

Nathan's First Bath

On Sunday night, I was able to give Nathan his first bath. His cord fell off Saturday afternoon. I was so excited to see how he would do in the water since Aaron and Christian both loved taking a bath and the water in general. I was glad to see that he was relaxed and mostly calm while getting cleaned by me for the first time. Christian was nice enough to take the pictures for me so enjoy them. We are all doing well and back into our normal routine of school, bowling, and piano lessons. We are expecting my sister and her family this weekend for a week of vacation and then my parents will be here the first week of February. We have about 3 1/2 weeks or so until Joe will be coming home and we are all getting excited about that especially Joe. He can't wait to hold Nathan for the first time and see him in person. Please continue to pray for Joe's safety and his safe return, we appreciate it so very much. May the Lord's grace keep you in His peace.

Welcoming our Gift from God...

God has blessed our family with the arrival our son, Nathan Josiah, who was born on December 26, 2007 at 5:24 p.m. He weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz. and was 21 inches long. My labor went very quickly, I arrived at the hospital around 3:30 p.m. and had him a little less than two hours later without the help of any modern medicine. My good friend and sister in the Lord, Sue actually said when we got to the hospital, "Wouldn't it be nice if you could just do this without any medication!" My response, "Don't start with me!", because I had wanted an epidural. Honestly, I couldn't have asked the Lord for a better plan. It was actually the way I desired for everything to go quickly and smoothly. I am so thankful that God is in control and not me and that he give us women the power to overcome tremendous pain. Nathan is a beautiful, healthy little boy and he is already so loved by his big brothers as you can see. Joe has been able to see him on our web camera when we talk and he is all the more ready to come home now. We thank all of you for your continual prayers for our family especially during my pregnancy and with Joe's deployment. We know that the Lord has our best interests at heart and we are so thankful to Him for His great love and grace.